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Losing Faith: Prosecutors, victims reflect on pain deacon George Brignac wrought for decades
George Brignac was among the most prolific abusers on the roster of molesting clergymen that the New Orleans Archdiocese released in 2018. Author: WWL Staff Updated: 10:26 PM CST December 18, 2020
NEW ORLEANS For Leon Cannizzaro, preparing to leave office after 12 years as Orleans Parish district attorney, one defendant that was in his sights and got away is a particularly vexing one: the inveterate child molester and former Catholic deacon George Brignac.
Cannizzaro had more than two years left in his final term when the local archdiocese in November 2018 released the first version of a list of clerics who had been credibly accused of child molestation over the decades.
A Monster in our Midst: The Story of George Brignac
It was 1953, and George Brignac was fresh out of high school when he joined the regional chapter of the Christian Brothers.
He spent seven years with the Catholic order, which founded four well-known local schools: St. Paul’s in Covington, De La Salle and Christian Brothers in New Orleans, and Archbishop Rummel in Metairie. But, by 1960, the order had expelled him.
Brignac told some people it was for “reasons of health.” Another time, his superior in the order said Brignac found “obedience difficult.”
Years later, his twin, a priest named Horace L. “H.L.” Brignac, revealed the truth in a statement to police: George Brignac had been “too friendly with boys.”